Chrome Shielded Heart
by AnimeFaeMoon
Summary: Nina loves Layfon, but can she get past her need to match him in battle enough to open her heart to what he has to offer? A story with Layfon and Nina, some spoilers from episodes as a bit of dialogue may be included to set the scene.
1. Chapter 1

_Chrome Shelled Regios belongs to Shūsuke Amagi and Funimation Entertainment. This is more based on the television series than the novels and there will be some direct dialogue included from the show. Light SPOILERS for A Guided Encounter and The Night Before the Intermunicipal. First time writing an anime fanfiction so hope you will let me know how I did. Feedback encouraged and welcomed._

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><p>"That's Zuellni," Nina murmured as she floated above the moving city she had desperately been trying to get back to. In the distance, surrounding the city she could see the multiple Contaminoids being destroyed by the flashing of someone wielding a Deed. "Who is that?"<p>

As the figure grew nearer to she could make put the familiar uniform that she and several other platoons wore in battle. And then, suddenly that figure was hurtling upwards towards her. Her eyes grew wider.

"It can't be."

Layfon sliced through several Contaminoids at once, but was moving too fast for his current injuries and exhaustion. He felt himself hit the ground, hard, and the impact was like a thousand blades hitting him from all sides. But he couldn't stop. The energy spirit Zuellni had been spotted and he needed to get to her, not just because their city needed the spirit to move, but because Zuellni may be the only one who could tell him where Nina was.

He tumbled, rolled to his feet and ignored the pain as he pushed forward, jumping high into the air to destroy another bug in his path, then released his gold Kei power and used it as a slingshot to propel himself upwards into the air towards Zuellni.

As he neared the strange glowing orb, he saw a figure that appeared larger than the tiny white energy spirit he had seen once before. He wiped at the green blood smearing his helmet, trying to clear his vision, and then he saw her. "Nina?"

"It can't be!" Nina gasped as the soldier hurled towards her at an alarming rate. "Layfon."

Layfon ripped off his Helmut and screamed for her. "Nina!"

Tears filled her eyes at the sound of his voice, the desperation and joy that mirrored hers. "Layfon!"

And then his arms were around her, she was solid and real and all the pain and worry and heartache he had felt the last few days disappeared. "Nina," he cried as she clung to him and extended his kei powers to support the glowing orb around them.

"Layfon!" she sobbed, thinking he was lost to her forever. She had never realized how strong his arms were, how wonderful he smelled and how heavenly his voice was to hear. To hear him cry for her that way, to see the unshed tears in his eyes. Oh, how could she not have known she felt this way?

Layfon closed his eyes, held her tightly, so tightly, afraid to let her go and she seemed to be having the same problem. "I...I..." He couldn't speak, couldn't express what finding her meant to him, so overwhelmed by his own feelings at seeing her, that the words could not come.

"Oh, Layfon." She was home. Layfon had found her and would bring her home. Layfon always won, always. He was so strong, so fierce and so protective of her. She loved him. Why had she not noticed that she loved him? "Thank you. Thank you, Layfon."

"Oh, Nina." His arms curled even tighter around her. "I was so...afraid. So..." Again words failed him and so he continued to hold her as his gold Kei carried them both over the Contaminoids beneath them and back to the safety of the city.

Nina pulled back to look at him, to look at that perfect face, and messy hair and those beautiful teal colored eyes. They were so close, inches apart really, and she wondered, no she wanted to kiss him. She badly wanted to kiss him.

Layfon stared into his Captain's beautiful face, memorizing every detail, then spotted the tear slipping down her cheek. He caught it with a gloved finger, watched her smile, and then her lips touched his. It felt natural, it felt right, and when it was over he knew that neither of them would say another word about it.


	2. Chapter 2

_Not sure if anyone is reading this as my stat page is messed up, but if you are please let me know if I should continue. Thanks_

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><p>Nina's eyes opened slowly as she came fully awake. Everything hurt. Her head, her arms, her body and most importantly her heart. Layfon. He had saved her once again, protected her from the Fallen One, from becoming like Dinn. She wasn't sure how he had done that. He had shielded her from the madman who tried to wield the dark power that had been in her. Always Lyfon protected her and she felt helpless to aid him, to protect him back.<p>

She turned her head, expecting him to be there, as he had the last time she woke in the hospital, but she found only her young white haired teammate instead. "Lyfon?" she asked before she could help herself.

"He is down the hall," Felli stated quietly.

Nina felt her heart quicken at the idea that Lyfon was hurt, yet again, and she started to sit up. "How bad? Is he okay? What have..." She stopped as the door to her room opened and Lyfon entered with two cups of coffee.

"Ma'am!" He smiled at her. "You're awake."

Coffee? He was down the hall getting coffee? She flopped back on the pillow, uncaring how much it hurt and glared at the little white haired girl beside her. Was that...was Felli smiling? No, she must have imagined it.

"I must go see my brother." Felli rose, accepted the coffee that Layfon offered her and then murmured as she passed him. "Don't be dense."

"Huh?" He scratched his head and watched his teammate leave the room, then moved over to settle in the chair Felli had vacated. He smiled again at Nina. "How are you feeling?"

Nina drank in the sight of him. His hair was in its usual messy state, and instead of his uniform he wore dark trousers and a grey tank top, revealing his left arm bandaged from his elbow to his shoulder, another smaller bandage on his upper right arm and a butterfly bandage across his left cheek, just beneath his eye.

"You look like crap."

His smile only widened and her heart flipped over in her chest. Did he really have no idea how beautiful he was, how much charisma and charm he exuded beneath that humble, bashful exterior? It was no wonder all the women were in love with him here. She wanted to ask him if how badly he had been hurt, but she knew he would blow her off, as he always did and act like it was no big thing.

She thought about the conversation they'd had after he had found her outside, driven to wander by the Fallen One. She had attacked him, she hadn't wanted to, but she couldn't help it, and she knew he had refused to throw his full force at her to protect himself. She had hurt him, kept the truth from him, caused him to risk himself over and over again for her and still, here he was seated by her bed, smiling.

"You're an idiot."

He blinked and paused as from taking a sip of his coffee. Why did the girls around here keep calling him that? "That seems to be the general consensus."

She smirked and tried to sit up again, not minding when he set his coffee down and moved to help her. She liked feeling his hands on her, then blushed for realizing it. "You don't have to stay."

"I just got here."  
>"You must be tired."<p>

He looked tired. She didn't know everything that he had gone through, but she knew it had been a lot.

"A little," he admitted. "But I wanted to see you."

She smiled little at that. "So, I guess you finally found the reason in you to fight."

"I always had a reason." He paused and would have sat back on his chair but she patted the space beside her. He sat on the bed facing her. "What I thought were reasons. Maybe they weren't very good ones, but...they were reasons."

"And now? Do you feel you've atoned enough, Layfon?" How many more times would he rush into danger because he felt he had something to prove to others? How much longer would he live with the guilt of his past?

"I..." He stared down at his hands. "I think I'm close to it, maybe."

She reached for his hand. "I want you to forgive yourself, Layton."

He stared at their fingers intertwined, ran his thumb over the back of her knuckles. "I'll try, Ma'am."

"Nina."

Startled blue eyes met hers.

"Please, when we're alone, call me Nina."

He swallowed hard at the surge of emotion that welled up inside of him and nodded. "Okay. N...Nina."

"Can...can I ask you to do something for me?"

"Anything."

She had started to shake as she realized all that had happened, all that had almost been lost for both of them. "Could you just...hold me for a little while?"

He didn't even hesitate, just moved closer and folded his arms around her. "Are you cold?"

"No." She clung to him, closed her eyes and gave herself over to the comfort, the strength he offered. "You're so powerful," she murmured and then remembered his response when she had said that to him before, as if he could hardly believe she would say such a thing. "Layfon?"

"Yes?"

"Why did it surprise you when I said that before?"

He was silent for a moment, and his arms pulled her a little bit closer. "Because I think the same of you, Nina."

She pulled back enough to meet his gaze, to see if he was teasing her and gasped at the honesty she saw there. "I'm...I'm not even close..."

"Everyone has different kinds of power, different kinds of strength. Your strength comes from the belief in yourself. Your power comes from the will to help others. I may be powerful in battle, but I am nothing compared to you."

"How can you say that? I can't even compete..."

"I have never wanted you to compete, Nina. Why should you? I could never compete with your power, I wouldn't even try."

"My...power?"

"Yes. You are a born leader. You taught me to fight alongside a team. You taught me to think about more than just my own mistakes. You taught me how to be a better person, a stronger person, and to never give up on what I want. You...I think you're amazing."

She could only stare at him in shock. When she found her voice again, she asked the silliest question ever. "What about Leerin?"

"She's gone back to Glendan."

"Won't...won't you miss her?"

"Always," he nodded. "She was my best friend there."

Friend? Best friend. Nina's body tingled with relief. "I...I thought you loved her."

"I do, I always will. She is precious to me."

Nina frowned and pulled back. "Then...why didn't you go back home to Glendan with her?"

Layfon let his hands fall back to his sides. "My home is here now." He watched a single tear slip from one eyes and caught it with his fingertip. "The people I care about are here. The reason I fight..." He smiled at her. "Is here."


End file.
